Nippon Ham Fighters to post Shohei Otani

OSAKA, Japan (AP) - Highly touted Japanese pitcher-outfielder Shohei Otani will be posted by the Nippon Ham Fighters, allowing him to sign with a major league team next season.

"Everyone in our ballclub accepts his thoughts," Fighters manager Hideki Kuriyama said on Friday. "It's not just me but everyone in our organization believes in what he can do."

Otani is the reigning Pacific League MVP and was 3-2 with a 3.20 ERA this year. Despite thigh and ankle injuries, he batted .332 in 65 games with 16 doubles, eight homers and 31 RBIs. He had ankle surgery last month.

He has a 42-15 record with a 2.52 ERA and 624 strikeouts in 543 innings over five seasons, and a .286 batting average with 48 homers and 166 RBIs.

Otani is scheduled to hold a news conference Saturday in Tokyo.

Because Otani has less than nine years of service time, Nippon Ham retains his rights and he must go through the posting system to leave.

If Major League Baseball, the Major League Baseball Players Association and Nippon Professional Baseball agree to a deal that would extend the expired posting agreement through this offseason, the team that Otani signs with would pay the Fighters $20 million. Under MLB's labor contract, his signing bonus is restricted and remaining pool money is limited to a high of $3,535,000.

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